Characteristics of the low energy seismicity of central Apulia (southern Italy) and hazard implications

The central part of the Apulia region, in southern Italy, has been generally considered practically free from significant level of seismicity, but historical documentation, geological indicators and recent instrumental observations suggest that the activity of local minor tectonic structures could have been masked (and partly also induced) by that of major seismogenic structures located in the neighbouring regions. A revision of the central Apulia seismicity characteristics was conducted considering its space and time distribution, energy release rate and focal mechanisms, in view of possible hazard implications. To better constrain the seismicity rates inferable from the set of available historical data, special attention was paid to the declustering of a catalogue of low energy events (magnitude < 3.5) instrumentally detected in about 20 years: a new declustering procedure, useful for cases like to the one at hand, was purposely devised taking into account the peculiarity of local seismicity characteristics and the limitations of the available database. The results obtained by combining instrumental and historical data show that this area is affected by a rather sporadic seismicity, likely associated to a general tensional regime and possibly stimulated by the interaction with Apenninic and northern Apulia seismogenic activity. Even though less energetic, the local seismicity contributes to increase the moderately damaging shaking probability due to the activity of seismic sources located in the near areas, so to justify the adoption of at least a minimum level of caution in relation to the local definition of seismic protection measures.     

The eruptive history of the Tequila volcanic field, western Mexico: ages, volumes, and relative proportions of lava types

The eruptive history of the Tequila volcanic field (1600 km²) in the western Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt is based on ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar chronology and volume estimates for eruptive units younger than 1 Ma. Ages are reported for 49 volcanic units, including Volcán Tequila (an andesitic stratovolcano) and peripheral domes, flows, and scoria cones. Volumes of volcanic units 1 Ma were obtained with the aid of field mapping, ortho aerial photographs, digital elevation models (DEMs), and ArcGIS software. Between 1120 and 200 kyrs ago, a bimodal distribution of rhyolite (~35 km³) and high-Ti basalt (~39 km³) dominated the volcanic field. Between 685 and 225 kyrs ago, less than 3 km³ of andesite and dacite erupted from more than 15 isolated vents; these lavas are crystal-poor and show little evidence of storage in an upper crustal chamber. Approximately 200 kyr ago, ~31 km³ of andesite erupted to form the stratocone of Volcán Tequila. The phenocryst assemblage of these lavas suggests storage within a chamber at ~2–3 km depth. After a hiatus of ~110 kyrs, ~15 km³ of andesite erupted along the W and SE flanks of Volcán Tequila at ~90 ka, most likely from a second, discrete magma chamber located at ~5–6 km depth. The youngest volcanic feature (~60 ka) is the small andesitic volcano Cerro Tomasillo (~2 km³). Over the last 1 Myr, a total of 128±22 km³ of lava erupted in the Tequila volcanic field, leading to an average eruption rate of ~0.13 km³/kyr. This volume erupted over ~1600 km², leading to an average lava accumulation rate of ~8 cm/kyr. The relative proportions of lava types are ~22–43% basalt, ~0.4–1% basaltic andesite, ~29–54% andesite, ~2–3% dacite, and ~18–40% rhyolite. On the basis of eruptive sequence, proportions of lava types, phenocryst assemblages, textures, and chemical composition, the lavas do not reflect the differentiation of a single (or only a few) parental liquids in a long-lived magma chamber. The rhyolites are geochemically diverse and were likely formed by episodic partial melting of upper crustal rocks in response to emplacement of basalts. There are no examples of mingled rhyolitic and basaltic magmas. Whatever mechanism is invoked to explain the generation of andesite at the Tequila volcanic field, it must be consistent with a dominantly bimodal distribution of high-Ti basalt and rhyolite for an 800 kyr interval beginning ~1 Ma, which abruptly switched to punctuated bursts of predominantly andesitic volcanism over the last 200 kyrs.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Editorial responsility: J. Donnelly-NolanThis revised version was published online in January 2005 with corrections to Tables 1 and 3.An erratum to this article can be found at     

Survival under chronic stress from sediment load: spatial patterns of hard coral communities in the southern islands of Singapore

Six reef sites were chosen along the west coasts of Singapore's southern islands, to: (1) quantitatively assess and compare coral community composition and structure, and recruitment rates, (2) assess the relationship between the aforementioned patterns and the environmental conditions, and (3) provide insights on potential processes that incorporate history at these study sites. Chronic exposure to high sediment load was the most obvious form of anthropogenic stress. Recruitment rates on ceramic tiles were low (1.4+/-1.0-20+/-14.7 recruits m(-2)year(-1)) but decreased towards the main island of Singapore as did hard coral cover and coral density. Coral fauna consisted of genera generally found in deeper waters (e.g., fungiids, foliose Oxypora, Leptoseris, and Echinopora) or those well adapted to turbid waters (e.g., Porites, Pectinia, Leptastrea, Montipora). Light extinction coefficient (K) and % live coral cover (%LCC) showed a strong and inverse curvilinear relationship (%LCC=13.60 *K(-3.40)). Similarly, the rate of sediment deposition (DFSPM) (Recruitment rate, RR=1.51-0.17 *DFSPM) and water clarity (RR=3.56-2.92 *K) exhibited strong and inverse relationships with recruitment rates. Although measured levels of the down-ward flux of suspended particulate matter and suspended solids were well within "normal" levels recorded in the literature, it was the proportion of benthic space, generic coral composition, and site history that offered compelling evidence of chronic exposure to increased sediment load. Clearly a reduction in both water clarity and live-coral cover has taken place since monitoring efforts began in the early 1970s, in fact coral cover has more than halved at all sites examined since the 1980s and benthic space was predominantly occupied by dead corals covered with sediment and filamentous algae.     

Decameter Type III-Like Bursts

We report the first observations of Type III-like bursts at frequencies 10 – 30 MHz. More than 1000 such bursts during 2002 – 2004 have been analyzed. The frequency drift of these bursts is several times that of decameter Type III bursts. A typical duration of the Type III-like bursts is 1 – 2 s. These bursts are mainly observed when the source active region is located within a few days from the central meridian. The drift rate of the Type III-like bursts can take a large value by considering the velocity of Type III electrons and the group velocity of generated electromagnetic waves.     

Low post-Cenomanian denudation depths across the Brazilian Northeast: Implications for long-term landscape evolution at a transform continental margin

The Brazilian Northeast affords good opportunities for obtaining reliable timings and rates of landscape evolution based on stratigraphic correlations across a vast region. The landscape formed in the context of an episodically fluctuating but continuously falling base level since the Cenomanian. After formation of the transform passive margin in Aptian times, landscape development was further driven by a swell-like uplift with its crest situated  300 km from the coastline. The seaward flank of this swell or broad monocline between the interior Araripe and coastal Potiguar basins was eroded, and currently forms a deeply embayed plain bordered by a semi-circular, north-facing erosional escarpment. The post-Cenomanian uplift caused an inversion of the Cretaceous basins and generated a landscape in which the most elevated landforms correspond either to resistant Mesozoic sedimentary caprock, or to eroded stumps of syn-rift Cretaceous footwall uplands. Denudation in the last 90 My never exceeded mean rates of 10 m·My^− 1 and exhumed a number of Cretaceous stratigraphic unconformities. As a result, some topographic surfaces at low elevations are effectively Mesozoic land surfaces that became re-exposed in Cenozoic times. The Neogene Barreiras Formation forms a continuous and mostly clastic apron near the coast. It testifies to the last peak of erosion in the hinterland and coincided with the onset of more arid climates at  13 Ma or earlier. The semi-circular escarpment is not directly related to the initial breakup rift flanks, which had been mostly eroded before the end of the Mesozoic, but the cause and exact timing of post-Cenomanian crustal upwarping are poorly constrained. It could perhaps have been a flexural response of the low-rigidity lithosphere to sediment loads on the margin, and thus a slowly ongoing process since the late Cretaceous. Uplift could instead be the consequence of a more discrete dynamic event related either to Oligocene magmatism in the region, or to continental-scale far-field stresses determined by Andean convergence.     

Late Holocene environmental changes and anthropogenic impact in Dee Why Lagoon,New South Wales

Late Holocene environmental changes were examined in Dee Why Lagoon, New South Wales, based on the sedimentological, geochemical and geochronological analysis of six cores collected from the fluvial delta and lagoon basin. The lagoon formed about 7300–7200?cal yr BP, following the post-glacial marine transgression and establishment of a sand barrier. Infilling of the lagoon occurred at a rate of 0.09–0.15?mm/yr until about 3300–3200?cal yr BP, when the barrier closed, resulting in mostly freshwater conditions, as evidenced by a change from pyrite-rich units to sediment containing little sulfur and a lack of foraminifera. Sedimentation rates increased to 0.23 then 0.43?mm/yr until about 100?years ago. Post-European land clearance led to an increase in sedimentation rates to 1.0–1.3?mm/yr on the fluvial delta, which are lower than those from other wave-dominated estuaries in New South Wales as well as those estimated by previous studies in Dee Why Lagoon. Our study shows that the fluvial delta started forming much earlier than originally thought, based on results of radiometric dating, and confirmed using sedimentological and geochemical data, as well as a critical examination of historic aerial photographs. Human impact has resulted in an increase in heavy metal (Cu, Pb, Zn) and metalloid (As) concentrations in the recent sediment, most likely attributed to stormwater discharge. Pb and As concentrations are above the ANZECC high sediment quality guideline values at the site closest to the stormwater outlet, with As-based pesticides one of the possible sources. Using the mean enrichment quotient, which is based on normalised Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations over their normalised background concentrations, we show that the surface sediments in Dee Why Lagoon are severely enriched, reflecting the recent anthropogenic impact that has also led to an increase in sedimentation rates.     

“一带一路”成员国居民健康状况的时空统计分析

健康是影响不同国家和地区发展的关键因素,全面了解“一带一路”成员国的居民健康状况,是探讨“一带一路”成员国之间健康医疗合作的重要基础。本文选择了4个代表性的健康状况指标（出生期望寿命、总生育率、过早非传染性疾病死亡率和结核病发病率）,利用Moran's I指数、Getis-Ord G指数对“一带一路”135个成员国的健康状况进行时空统计,分析了健康状况的空间相关性和空间分布模式,研究了健康状况的时空格局。研究发现：① 2000—2016年“一带一路”大部分成员国的各项健康状况指标均朝着改善和优化方向发展;健康状况指标均呈现显著的正空间自相关性;② 总体而言,在“一带一路”成员国中,欧洲国家的居民健康状况最好;南北美洲和大洋洲国家的居民健康状况良好;亚洲国家的居民健康状况总体良好,但东南亚部分国家的结核病发病率较高;非洲国家的居民健康状况虽有明显改善,但仍处于较低状态。因此,“一带一路”成员国应进一步加强健康医疗合作,共同推动健康丝绸之路的发展。     

Downscaling climate-model output in mountainous terrain using local topographic lapse rates for hydrologic modeling of climate-change impacts

One of the challenges in using general circulation model (GCM) output is the need to downscale beyond the model’s coarse spatial grid for use in hydrologic modeling of climate-change impacts. In mountainous terrain, using elevation as a primary control on temperature and precipitation at the local scale provides the potential for topographic variables to be used to adjust climate-model output. Here, local topographic lapse rates (LTLR) were estimated from gridded climate data for the Pacific Northwest of the United States and used to downscale GCM output. Skill scores were calculated for the LTLR-downscaled climate-model output relative to an existing set of model output downscaled using the established statistical downscaling technique of localized constructed analogs (LOCA). The results indicate that the LTLR method performs well in the mountainous study region relative to the LOCA method. LTLR downscaling offers a promising method for downscaling climate-model output in regions in which elevation strongly controls climate, particularly for studying impacts of future climate change on water resources.     

Detrital zircon and apatite constraints on depositional ages,sedimentation rates and provenance: Pliocene Productive Series,South Caspian Basin,Azerbaijan

We used detrital zircon U/Pb geochronology and apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He thermochronology to better constrain depositional ages and sedimentation rates for the Pliocene Productive Series in Azerbaijan. U/Pb analysis of 1,379 detrital zircon grains and (U–Th–Sm)/He analysis of 57 apatite grains—from Kirmaky Valley and Yasamal Valley onshore sections, Absheron Peninsula—yielded two distinct sub‐populations: “young” Neogene grains and “old” Mesozoic, Palaeozoic and Proterozoic/Archean grains. The large numbers of Neogene age grains (around 10% of all grain ages) provided a new absolute age constraint on the maximum depositional age of the Lower Productive Series of 4.0 Myr. These “young” Neogene zircon grains most likely originated from volcanic ash falls sourced from the Lesser Caucasus or Talesh Mountains. In this paper we propose a timescale scenario using the maximum depositional age of the Productive Series from detrital zircon grain U/Pb constraints. Potential consequences and limitations of using apatite (U–Th–Sm)/He dating method in estimating maximum depositional ages are also discussed. These new age constraints for the Lower Productive Series gave much faster sedimentation rates than previously estimated: 1.3 km/Myr in the South Caspian Basin margin outcrops and up to 3.9 km/Myr in the basin centre. The sedimentation rates are one of the highest in comparison to other sedimentary basins and coeval to global increase in sedimentation rates 2–4 Myr. The older group of detrital zircon grains constitutes the majority of grains in all sample sets (~80%). These older ages are inferred to reflect the provenance of the Productive Series sediment. This sediment is interpreted to have been derived from the Proterozoic and Archean crystalline basement rocks and Phanerozoic cover of the East European Craton, Proterozoic/Palaeozoic rocks of the Ural Mountains and Mesozoic sedimentary rocks of the Greater Caucasus. This sediment was likely supplied from northerly sourced drainage that emptied into the South Caspian Basin.